Wire stapling machines



June 28, 1960 J. l. NASMITH ETAL 2,942,263

WIRE STAPLING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28,- 1957 J. NASMITH ETAL 2,942,2fi8 WIRE STAPLING MACHINES June 2%, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1957 s Am I H H C m T G mm mm N& l E m J W June 28, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 28, 1957 2,942,268 WIRE STAPLING MACHINES John Irving Nasmith, Bexhill-on-Sea, and Wilfred Kirby,

London, England, assignors to Vickers-Armstrongs (Engineers) Limited, London, England, a "British com- P Wire stapling machines are already known in which, for the purposes of fastening together component parts tained in the material of the parts to be secured together. Hitherto, however, such machines have had limited application due to the low holding or gripping power of the staples.

It is an object of the invention to devise a wire stapling machine, of improved construction whereby the foregoing defect may be overcome, more particularly in connection with the stapling of substantially rigid materials such as wood. e

In accordance with the invention there is provided a wire stapling machine comprising a stitching headrincorporating staple driving mechanism and comprising also means operative in timed relationship with .the staple driving mechanism and displace'able, during a driving operation, into engagement with the work in such a manner that, as a staple is driven into the work, portions of the legs of the staple can, without emerging from the material of the work, be defle'cted at an angle to the plane of the staple to form, upon completion ofthe driving operation, hook-like or bent-over portions at the ends of the staple legs, which portions grip the material of the work and serve to resist withdrawal of the staple. a

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how it may be carried into efiect, the same will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: a

Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, ofa wire stapling machine according to one embodiment of th invention, 1

Figures 2, 3 and 4, are detail views illustrating various stages in the operation of the machine,

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of a detail of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a sectional plan view taken along the line VI-VI of- Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a detail of Figure 5. The wire stapling machine illustrated in Figure 1 is intended, more particularly, for use in the construction of wooden boxes or packing cases, and comprises a frame 1 including a base 2, a main support column 3 extending upwardly from the base and having at or adjacent its upper end a forwardly projecting stitching head indicated generally at 4. Beneath the stitching head there is mounted, on the support column, a vertically adjustable .table 5 for supporting thecomponent parts of the work to be fastened together. The stitching head 4 comprises staple forming and driving mechanism indicated generally at 6 and operated by a rotatable cam plate 7 disposed at the forward. end of a transmission shaft 8 rotatably mountedrin the stitching head. The, transmission shaft8 has at its rear end a bevel gear 9. which meshes with a pinion 10 carried by a drive shaft 11 rotatably mounted in the upper part of the support. column 3.. ,The drive of an article, a wire staple is driven into and wholly con-' 2,942,268 Patented June 28, 1960 shaft 11 is arranged to be rotated by power means, such as an electric motor 12 supported at the upper end of the support column and drivingly connected through a belt 13 and a control clutch 14 to the drive shaft 11. The clutch 14 is arranged for operation by stop and start mechanism including a pedal 15 mounted in the base and connected to the clutch as by link 16 and co-operating lever 17, which latter is engageable with an abutment screw carried by a lever 30 pivotally mounted in the stitching head. The stop and start mechanism per 'se forms no'part of the present invention and is not therefore further described. The staple forming and driving mechanism 6 comprises a staple forming element indicated diagrammatically at 18 and an associated staple driving clement (not shown) slidable axially, in known manner, within the driving forming element, the forming transmission shaft 8, a rotatable cam plate 24 havinga and driving elements having cam followers which engage in corresponding grooves formed in the cam plate 7 so that, during rotation of the cam plate, the forming and driving elements are reciprocated up and down for the formation of conventional inverted generally 'U-shaped wire staples and for the driving of the staples into the work. The stitching head has a front cover plate 19 upon which there is pivotally mounted a member 20 adapted, during each staple forming and driving cycle, to receive a cut-off wire blank and to deliver the blank into the staple forming and driving plane, the member 20 being urged inwardly towards the staple forming and driving elements, by a spring 21 secured also .to the cover plate 19. Means may be incorporated in the stitching head to provide for adjustment in the length of the staple legs.

In the present embodiment, the table 5 is so arranged that the work indicated at A will be located in a generally horizontal position, and the stitching head 4 is mounted in an angular position so that the staple forming and driving elements are disposed for reciprocating movements in a plane which is inclined forwardly and upwardly with respect to the upper face of the table. The arrangement is such that during operation of the machine, the staples will be driven into thework in a plane inclined with respect to the horizontal. It will beunderstood that a similar eifect could be obtained by so mounting the stitching head that the staple forming and driving elements are located for movement in avertical plane, in which case the supporting table would be arranged to support the work in a position inclinedwith respect to the horizontal.

The staple forming element 18 is thus axially inclined with respect to the upper surface of the work A which, as hereinafter indicated, comprises initially separate pieces to be stapled together. In operation, the staple forming element 18 has both a vertical and a horizontal component of force serving to clamp the workpieces together during the driving of a staple into the work. Accordingly, the staple forming element has a base part adapted to engage the upper face of the work, the base part having at its free extremity a clamping surface inclined with respect to the plane of the staple forming and driving elements, thereby to conform, to the horizontal disposition of the work. Furthermore, said clamping surface is roughened, as shown for example, by serrations, 23 in Figure 2, to facilitate gripping engagement between the staple forming element and the surface of the work presented to the stitching head. The arrangement is such that, during a driving operation, the forming element 18 will be thrust against the work and will assist in' clamping the work firmly in position and holding it substantially immovable. i

Within the stitching head there is mounted upon the cam face 25 engaged by a cam follower 26 carried by one 3 arm 27 of a two-arm lever indicated generally at 28 and pivotally mounted upon a pin 29 in the stitching head. The other arm 31 of said lever 28 is of bifurcated form and the two furcations thereof carry inwardly directed pins 3221 which "slidingly engage in slots 3% formed -at opposite sides er a coupling 32 mounted at the rear end of a slide member '33. The slide member 33 has at its front end, two prongs 33a spaced laterally apart according to the disposition of the-staple legs. The member '33 is arranged in a guideway formed in a bracket 34 at the lower end of the stitching "head for axial slidingdisplace ment in a plane substantially at right-angles to the plane of the staple forming and driving elements, and thus inclined with respect to the horizontal. v

The supporting table is provided with a suitably surfaced plate 35 'fo'rsup'porting the work A, and the bracket 34 in which the slide member 33 is mounted, carries a transverse back gauge 36 for locating the work in the required position relatively to the stitching head. The back gauge is formed 'w'it'han aperture 37 (Figure 6) in register with the guide-way in the bracket 34 so that during astapling operation, the prongs 33a will move forwardly through the gauge plate to penetrate the work. The bracket 34 is adjustably secured to a forwardly protruding part 38 or the machine frame and is fixed in position by bolts '39 which pass through elongated slots 40 formed in the bracket. The arrangement permits sliding adjustment of the bracket parallel to the angularly disposed stitching head so that the Prongs and the back gauge can be adjusted simultaneously according to the required length of the staple legs. The forward work engaging extremity of each prong 33a is formed with a concave face 4'1 (see Figure 2) engageable, as hereinafter described, by the corresponding leg of a staple so that, as the staple is driven into the work, the free end portions of the staple legs will be deflected by the prongs, into a position at an angle to the plane of the staple.

In the drawings, 'the work A consists of a packing case or box formed, for example, of Wood, and having a body 42 and a lid 43. The operation of the machine will now be described with reference to the fastening of the lid to the body of the box. The box body 42 is arranged upon the supporting plate 35 of the table and the box body together with the "lid 43 are placed in contact with the back gauge 36. The mechanism is now operated to rotate the shaft 8 and the cam plates 7 and 25, thereby to initiate a staple forming and driving cycle during which the staple forming element 18 is displaced downwardly so that the base thereof engages and firmly clamps the lid to a side wall of the box body and, as "a staple formed by the mechanism is driven into the work (see Figure 2) the latter is held substantially immovable in position. The pivoted lever 28 for operating the slide member 33, is driven through the rotating cam plate 24 and the cam follower 26 in timed relationship with the staple forming and driving mechanism in such a manner that the prongs are held in their'normal retracted position until the points of the staple legs have passed through the lid 43 and have penetrated partially into the material of the subjacent box body thereby to secure these two parts of the work together at the driving location. The prongs 33a are then projected forwardly of the back gauge 36 and are caused by the lever 28 to penetrate slightly the adjacent side of the box body (see Figure 2), the prongs being held in this projected position until the staple driving operation has been completed. The movements of the prongs and the stationary dwell period thereof in the work penetrating position, are determined by the form of the cam face 25 of the camplate 24. As the staple indicated at 44 (Figure 2) moves downwardly at an inclined angle into the material of the box body, the extremities 'of the legs of :the staple engage the concave faces 41 of the prongs andare thereby bent forwardly substantially at right-an les to the plane of the staple. before the staple legs reachthe point of egress from the rear face of the box body 42, the ends of the staple legs are deflected and bent back into the material of the box body to provide hook-like elements 45 (Figures 3 and 4) which are embedded in the material of the work and which serve-tohold the component parts firmly together and to offer strong resistance to withdrawal of the staple from the work. During the driving of 'a stapleinto the work, the clamping surface 23 at the lower end of the staple forming element serves to counteract the horizontalcomponent of forces set up by the staple deflecting prongs, thereby to avoid displacement of the work. I

Following the driving operation, the staple forming and driving elements, and the prongs, are retracted thereby immediately releasing the work and enabling it to be replaced ih'ano'ther position for a further stapling operation as shown at 44a, 45a in Figure 4.

, We claim: y p I 1. A wire stapling machine for the construction of Wooden boxes, comprising a work support presenting a face for supporting a first workpiece to which a second workpiece is to be secured, a stitching head having staple forming and driving elements for forming and driving a staple through said second workpiece and into thefirst workpiece in a plane inclined at an angle to said work supporting face and to the surface of said second workpiece presented to the stitching head, mechanism for actuating said staple forming and driving elements, a slide member spaced from said work support and mounted for sliding translational displacement in a plane which is generally perpendicular to said first-mentioned plane, prong means on said slide member, said slide member being displaceable from a.'normal retracted position into -a projected position in which said prong means can penetrate the material of said first workpiece for en g'agement with the legs of an advancing staple, and positively driven means for displacing said slide member in timed relationship with the mechanism for actuating the staple forming and driving elements, to cause said prong means to penetrate the material of said first workpiece to deflect and bend end portions of th e l'egs of an'a'dvanc'ing staple at an angle inclined to said work supporting face, before the ends of said legs can emerge from the material. I s

2. A wire stapling machine for the construction of wooden boxes, said machine comprising a work support, a stitching head disposed above said work support and having staple forming and driving elements for forming and driving astaple into a workpiece at an angle inclined with respect to said work support and to the surface *of the work presented to'th'e stitching head, mechanism for operating said staple forming and driving elements durmg each stitching cycle, a bracket secured to said stitching head and disposed above said work support, a slide member mounted for sliding translational displacement in said bracket for movement in a plane substantially at right-angles to the staple forming and driving elements and inclined to said Work support, laterally spaced prongs at one end of said slide member, positively driven mechanism for operatin g sai'd slide member in timed relationship with said staple forming and driving elements to displace said slide member from a normal retracted position into a projected position in which said prongs penetrate the workpiece as a staple is driven for engagement by and bending of the legs of the advancing staple before the legs can emerge from the outer surface of the work penetrated by said prongs, to provide a stitch which is hooked inwardly from said outer surface and has its points directed downwardly toward the work support.

3. A machine as'clannedin claim 2, wherein the mechfor operating the staple forming and driving elements comprises a shaft rotatably mounted in the stitching head, a cam plate .rnou'nted on said shaft, and cam renewing means en ageable with said cam plate for actuating said forming and driving elements, and wherein the positively driven mechanism for operating said slide member comprises a second cam plate mounted on said shaft, a lever device pivotally mounted in the stitching head, a cam follower on said lever device and engageable with said second cam .plate, said second cam plate being rotatable'dun'ng each staple forming and driving cycle and co-operating with said lever device to hold said slide member in said retracted position until a staple has been driven partially into the work, and thereafter to displace said member into said projected position to cause said prongs to be forced into the work for engagement with the staple legs tor. bend the legs during the further driving of the staple into the work.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein'the work support comprises a table, a supporting plate'mounted substantially horizontally upon said table to receive a first workpiece to which a second workpiece is to be secured, a back-plate mounted on said bracket and disposed substantially perpendicular to said supporting plate for locating said workpieces in position for a staple'driving operation, means adjustably securing said bracket to the stitching head for adjustment in the positioning of said bracket and the back-plate carried thereby relatively to the stitching head, the inclined driving element of said stitching head having at its lower end a base part having a roughened clamping surface for clamping engagement with said second workpiece during a stitching operation and for urging said workpieces onto said supporting plate and against said back-plate.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said prongs have leading end portions formed with concave faces for deflecting and bending the staple legs to provide hooked ends completely embedded in said first workpiece. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 623,834 Saunders Apr. 25, 1899 647,635 Saunders Apr. 17, 1900 670,816 Saunders Mar. 26, 1901 1,955,467 Morgan Apr. 17, 1934 2,427,028 Spencer Sept. 9, 1947 2,722,001 Schafroth Nov. 1, 1955 2,764,758 Schafroth Oct. 2, 1956 

